Spoilers: tabbing a feature from a major plot line, minimal details about the plot line shared
In Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, “The Arcana” is a fictional academic journal at the center of book’s plot. The journal appears quietly, but right away: Professor Grimes dies running an experiment that retests a theory he’s publishing in The Arcana.
There’s controversy surrounding Grimes’ article (beyond his accidental death). Annotating The Arcana’s appearance in the text is a good way to follow this major plot point closely and keep track of all the unfolding details.
DEFINITION OF ARCANA: Arcana, the plural of arcanum, means, “mysterious or specialized knowledge, language, or information accessible or possessed only by the initiate.”1
You’ll need 9 tabs of the same color to annotate The Arcana in Katabasis by R.F. Kuang.
One tab will be for your tab key. Be sure to pick a coordinating highlighter or pen color to underline the quotes about The Arcana.
TAB Ch 1, p 9
HIGHLIGHT and/or UNDERLINE:
- “He was only retracing some basic principles of set theory cited in a new article he had coming out in Arcana, the top journal in their field”.
TAB Ch 4, p 57
HIGHLIGHT and/or UNDERLINE:
“Everyone knew Peter was supposed to accompany Professor Grimes to Rome for the biannual Arcana conference.”
TAB Ch 4, p 62
HIGHLIGHT and/or UNDERLINE:
“Universities publishing the journals, which determined which spells were valid and which ones weren’t.”
TAB Ch 4, p 63
HIGHLIGHT and/or UNDERLINE:
“But none of it was going to be published in Arcana, and so none of it had credibility.”
TAB Ch 11, p 172
HIGHLIGHT and/or UNDERLINE:
- “Did they know that Peter Murdoch was the youngest person ever to publish in Arcana? Did they know Harvard had written to Peter Murdoch with a job offer after his Arcana paper came out, and that Peter had responded politely that he needed to finish his A-levels first?”
TAB Ch 22, p 353
HIGHLIGHT and/or UNDERLINE:
- “Instead, all everyone wanted to talk about was the paper that Professor Grimes was publishing soon in Arcana.”
TAB Ch 20, p 313
HIGHLIGHT and/or UNDERLINE:
- “Suddenly all everyone could talk about was the exciting new paper Murdoch and Grimeswere coauthoring; how it was sure to be accepted in Arcana, how it might revolutionize the field of set theory, how it was making Bertrand Russell turn over in his grave.”
TAB Ch 22, p 354
HIGHLIGHT and/or UNDERLINE:
- “And laziness does not get you published in Arcana.”
- *“Arcanum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/arcanum. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025. ↩︎
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